A Century of Iowa Architecture on display at ISU Oct. 3-28

AMES, Iowa -- Considering the many connections between Iowa State
University and Iowa's finest architecture, the campus arrival of the
traveling exhibit, "A Century of Iowa Architecture, 1900-1999," will
be something of a homecoming.

ISU's College of Design will host the exhibit Oct. 3-28. It
features photographs of the 50 buildings considered the best of Iowa's
20th-century architecture. They were selected last year by a jury in
conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Iowa chapter of the
American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The buildings were selected from 300 nominated. Five buildings --
including one award winner -- were selected from each
decade. Buildings had to be located in Iowa, still standing and
designed by an architect. They were judged on original design criteria
and societal and cultural impact.

Final selections are a mix of buildings by internationally known
architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry, and by leading
Iowa practitioners, including many ISU architecture graduates and
faculty.

The exhibit has several Iowa State ties:

ISU's Stephens Auditorium was selected the best of the best as the
"Building of the Century." Former architecture faculty member Ray
Crites and professor emeritus of architecture Howard Heemstra were
involved in its design.

Mark Engelbrecht, College of Design dean, designed the University
of Northern Iowa's Maucker Union Building, considered one of the best
buildings of the 1960s.

Architecture professor and chair Cal Lewis was a designer on the Meredith Corporation headquarters expansion, a top pick for the 1990s.

ISU's Agronomy Hall expansion and remodeling was one of the best
of the 1980s.

Faculty or alumni were architects on 11 of the exhibit's 20 buildings built since 1960, including the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines.

The exhibit itself was largely curated by two faculty
members. Jason Alread, assistant professor of architecture, chaired
the Iowa AIA Architecture of the Century committee that oversaw the
three-year project. He also wrote the text for the exhibit's companion
book. Cameron Campbell, assistant professor of architecture and art
and design, was the architectural photographer and exhibit
designer/fabricator. After a year of preparation, he spent most of a
summer traveling the state, photographing the selected buildings. Both
Alread and Campbell were part of Iowa Public Television's 2004
documentary, "A Century of Architecture," as well.

Students in assistant architecture professor Dan Naegele's Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School seminar built physical models of Prairie School buildings included in the exhibit. They worked with building owners to secure drawings, take measurements and gather documentation to construct accurate models.

Robert Findlay, AIA fellow and professor emeritus of architecture
at Iowa State, was one of the jurors, along with former Iowa
Gov. Robert Ray; Chuck Offenburger, former Des Moines Register
columnist; Eliot Nusbaum, editor at Traditional Home magazine; and Bob
Broshar, AIA fellow and former national AIA president.

"A Century of Iowa Architecture" was unveiled last October at the
State Historical Museum in Des Moines. It has appeared in Waterloo,
Sioux City and Dubuque. In January, it travels to Mason City.

The exhibit will be in Gallery 181, first floor of the College of
Design building. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday. The exhibit closes at noon, Oct. 28. An opening reception will
be 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, in Gallery 181. The exhibit and reception
are free and open to the public. Signed copies of the 112-page
companion book by Alread and Campbell will be available for $20 (cash
or checks only) during the reception or afterwards in 134 Design.

ISU architecture students built museum-quality models of Prairie
School buildings, like the 1918 Woodbury County Courthouse in Sioux
City, that are in the Century of Iowa Architecture exhibit.

AIA exhibit Agronomy
The 1986 addition and expansion to ISU's Agronomy Hall is considered
one of the best Iowa buildings of the 1980s.

Many of the buildings in The Century of Iowa Architecture exhibit were
designed by Iowa State architecture faculty and alumni, including the
University of Northern Iowa's Maucker Union Building, designed in 1969
by Mark Engelbrecht, ISU's dean of design.